Seemingly 'Impossible' Art Forms: Strijdom Van der Merwe's Land Art in the Context of the South African Art market/Skynbaar 'Onmoontlike' Kunsvorme: Strijdom Van der Merwe Se Aardkuns in Die Konteks Van Die Suid-Afrikaanse Kunsmark

This article explored the work of Strijdom van der Merwe, the concept of land art and the notion of the artist's book in the context of the historical and contemporary art market. The premise of the article is the view that if something can be called art, it can also be sold, even if it is an art form that seems 'impossible' to sell, such as land art. This article considers the position of Van der Merwe, the pre-eminent South African land artist, in the somewhat unlikely context, of the South African art market. Van der Merwe is a successful full-time land artist, which is a rare phenomenon in the South African art scene. Indeed in the 1960s, land art was deemed impossible to sell anywhere, and this article explored the extent to which this is still the case today. The research method of the article comprised semi-structured interviews and a literature review. It was argued, in view of Van der Merwe's work, that whilst it may be hue that if something can be called art, it can be sold, then the proviso 'somehow' must be added when referring to seemingly 'impossible art'. Hierdie artikel bied 'n ondersoek na die werk van Strijdom van der Merwe, die gedagte van aardkuns en die kunstenaarsboek in die konteks van die historiese en eietydse kunsmark. Die Stelling dat 'indien iets kuns genoem kan word, kan dit ook verkoop word' word gebruik as vertrekpunt--ook in die geval van kunsvorme wat skynbaar 'onmoontlik' is om te verkoop, soos aardkuns. Hierdie artikel besin oor die werk van Strijdom van der Merwe, die bekendste Suid Afrikaanse aardkunstenaar, binne die ietwat ongewone konteks (vir aardkuns) van die Suid-Afrikaanse kunsmark. Hy is 'n suksesvolle voltydse aardkunstenaar; nogal 'n uitsonderlike verskynsel binne die Suid-Afrikaanse kunsomgewing. Aardkuns is allerwee in die 1960s beskou as 'n 'onmoontlike' kunsvorm om te verkoop, en hierdie artikel ondersoek die geldigheid van hierdie Stelling vir vandag. Die navorsingsmetode van die artikel is semi-gestruktureerde onderhoude en 'n literatuurstudie. My argument is, met verwysing na Van der Merwe se werk, dat die Stelling 'indien iets kuns genoem kan word, dit verkoopbaar is' waar mag wees, maar met die moontlike voorbehoud van 'verkoopbaar--op die een of ander manier'. Introduction Journeys like these are also about the discovering of one self, how you will react to the landscape and the most exciting is how the creative process will unfold as you enter the natural unknown landscape of the island. As I spend most of my time 'outwards' it is very much an 'inward' journey. (Van der Merwe 2009) In this article the work of South Africa's most well-known land artist, Strijdom van der Merwe (b. 1961), and his seemingly 'impossible' to sell art form (land art) are explored with reference to historical and contemporary realties of the art market context (see Art Source South Africa 2010; Ngwenya 2010). Van der Merwe's contribution to the creative research project entitled Transgressions and boundaries of the page, was to combine land art--his primary art form--with conventions from the artist's book Sculpting the Land (2009). It can be argued that the artist's book is a medium that renders Van der Merwe's 'impossible to sell' art form more sellable in the broader art market. Nonetheless, this argument is put forward whilst also taking cognisance of David Paton's (2008) sentiment that the artist's book in itself is still an underappreciated art form in South Africa. In this article, the artist's book will thus be examined alongside land art as a seemingly 'impossible' art form. The premise of this article is that anything that can be called art is sellable and thus collectible. This is hue even of conceptual art forms deemed 'impossible' with reference to the art market context in the 1960s by Messer (1) (1969:31). For the purposes of this article, land art and the artist's book are likewise positioned as 'impossible'. The aim of this article is to inform, and to explore how these two 'impossible' art forms feature in the South African art market. …